On a cold, windy evening in October, Joe, an appraiser of 30 years, headed toward his last inspection after a long day. It was the house on Bates Avenue. The one everyone in town said was haunted. Of course Joe didn't believe in such things.

In fact, he felt most stories about haunted homes, ghouls, and ghosts were hopelessly unoriginal and rather trite. So he headed to the inspection without so much as a second thought to its apparitional rumors. However, he failed to notice the sky grow darker as he approached the home on 1401 Bates.

Inspections could be easier

Historically, gathering data in the field has consisted of traveling from one room to another, taking photos with your handheld camera, thumbing through papers searching for the right piece to jot notes down, and occasionally deflecting questions from the homeowner.